Maria Brignole Sale De Ferrari, Duchess of Galliera (b. Genoa, Italy, 1811 – d. 1888, Paris, France) was a philanthropist. She migrated to Paris following her husband’s legal troubles in Italy, and her career as a philanthropist blossomed in the French capital. In 1878, she manifested her intention to leave her collection of works of art to the French State on the condition that it would be exhibited to the public in a specially built museum that she proposed to finance on a vast piece of land belonging to her.
